1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to label separators for separating an adhesive label from a protective backing, and to a method for separating a label from its backing.
2. Description of Related Art
Preprinted labels having an adhesive surface are used on a variety of products and packagings. Prior to application, such labels are typically provided with a protective backing in contact with their adhesive surface. To apply the label, it is removed from its protective backing and placed in a desired location upon the product or packaging.
In many instances, a large volume of labels must be placed on a large volume of products or packaging in an assembly line procedure. However, removing the label from the backing can often be difficult. Typically, a section of label material is applied to a protective backing having identical dimensions. The label has somewhat smaller dimensions than the full section of label material. The label is commonly separated from the remainder of the label material by a circumferential cut line which penetrates the label material but not the backing material. Often however, the excess label material surrounding the label, commonly referred to as the matrix, is removed or otherwise not present. To separate label from the backing material by hand, a worker creases the label material at the label cut line and peels the backing material away from the edge of the label at the cut line. The user can then grasp the label and remove it from the backing material. The process is time-consuming and can be somewhat difficult.
Prior art arrangements for automatically removing labels from a roll of backing material are known. In such systems the backing material is wound onto a large roller and passed over a breaker bar at an acute angle causing the backing material to bend and separate from the label. One such prior art arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,694, issued Jun. 20, 1989. However, storing rolls of labels is an inefficient use of storage space. Stacked sheets of labels store much more compactly. Prior systems have failed to provide a suitable automatic process for removing the labels from the backing when employing separate sheets of labels.